Devlog #5

On Tuesday, we ran a final test of our sports related games. We used feedback from last Thursday to polish the game into what it was on Tuesday. This process was known as iterative design. The textbook defines it as "a cycle on conceptualization, prototyping, testing, and evaluation" (Ch 5, Sharp, Macklin). It continues on in detail, where designers create an idea, make a prototype off that idea, run playtests with the prototype, then evaluate the results to make the idea better. For this sports game, we created a prototype based off the idea of basketball, gained feedback from the playtest last Thursday, then used that feedback to evaluate the game and modify it based on what the play testers liked and disliked about it. The next playtest allowed a different set of players provide more outlooks on what we can change, so that the game is fun for everyone. Going back to the textbook, it mentions a game design process that comes from software development and Human-computer interaction (HCI). One of the final steps was "Revise: Based on the feedback, revise the requirements and plan" (Pg. 218, Sharp, Macklin). This time, I noticed that this step plus the review step happens multiple times instead of once or twice. You provide play testers with a prototype, gather their feedback, then revise the prototype. You continue to do this until it is deemed good enough by both you and the testers.

This Tuesday, after playtesting games, we jumped into the world of playing cards, going into more detail this Thursday.  The most well known card deck is the standard deck, with four suits and 13 cards to each suit. This card deck is known as a planar (and also uniform!) card deck, or "cards having two opposing sides that... can not be viewed simultaneously. In most games, the cards back... faces one's opponent(s) while the front displays information meant to be hidden from other players" (p. 8, Altice).  This sort of card style is pretty common, from the standard deck, to classic family games like Uno, to even less game cards and more spiritual card like the Tarot. The game Sushi Go, which we played on Thursday, is an example of a planar deck, with a concealed back and designs facing the player. While the rules and how you play defeat the purpose concealment, it adds another surprise; not knowing which cards your opponents take until you get the deck.